Design Star Season 6: Playing Nice

I'm the first to admit it: Sometimes the funniest thing to say isn't the nicest. When someone zings me in a clever way, my initial instinct is to congratulate them. There's always time to be offended later. Reality TV definitely understands that to be unkind is also to be entertaining.

That said, I'm happy to report that season 6 of HGTV's Design Star has decided to tone it down a notch. We're only one episode in so far, but it would appear that the judges took the viewers' notes. I loved last season and in particular last season's winner Emily Henderson (and her awesome show Secrets From a Stylist), but there were times when it was seriously hard to watch. Vern Yip, whose show Deserving Design made him out to be a saint, was particularly harsh in some of the critiques. Candace Olson and Genevieve Gorder were not any nicer. I'm hoping this season continues along the vein of the premiere episode and has the judges offering a little bit of constructive criticism, as well as words of encouragement.

A few other thoughts on the first episode:

1. Not wild about the host Tanika Ray (who is she? looking at her Wikipedia page, she seems like a random pick) but David Bromstead as mentor is a great fit.
2. Is it just me, or do you want to know how much money they have to spend and what they're paying for the furniture items they choose?

3. Candace Olson is clearly better at designing rooms than she is at dressing herself. Zing!

Next time we'll talk about the rooms ...